1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of drapery rods, cornices, and similar window and door covering devices, and more particularly to a drapery rod with a veneer made of high quality genuine wood.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drapery rods have been known in the art for many years. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,212 to Wilson discloses a curtain rod with supporting brackets. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,435 to Ford discloses a decorative traverse rod having a modular decorative facing. While the rod is made of metal, the facing preferably made of molded plastic material. Although current drapery rods, such as that disclosed in Ford, generally are made of metal to have sufficient strength to support the draperies, the plastic veneer which is sometimes used is not attractive for some applications. The plastic generally cannot be painted to match the color scheme of the room. Further, in some applications a wood grain is desired and therefore the plastic is generally unsuitable. For example, it seldom looks like genuine wood and cannot be stained to match other wood trim in the room.
For these applications, consumers have desired genuine wood drapery rod. However, since the drapery rod can span an considerable expanse, it must be made of solid wood to bear the weight of the draperies. In addition, the wood must be of a surface high quality since the decorative drapery rod is highly visible and important to the attractiveness of the home's interior. Because of the high quality of wood required, drapery rods made of solid wood have been expensive and generally available to only a few consumers able to pay for them.
From an environmental standpoint, the plastic drapery rods were much preferable to the solid wood rods. Large quantities of wood were required to find a section of wood with the high quality surface necessary for the drapery rod.
Because of the prohibitive cost, as well as the above-discussed environmental factors, some interior designers have sought to laminate an inexpensive substrate such as plastic or metal with a veneer of plastic or film onto which a wood grain appearance had been formed. These embodiments had the disadvantage of being unable to be sanded, painted or stained to match other woodwork in the room. In addition, the veneer often was dislodged from the substrate below by the operation of mounting brackets which gripped the exterior of the rod and compressed it.
The present invention contemplates an new and improved drapery rod which is simple in design, effective in use, and overcomes many of the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantages overall results. The invention requires only a small portion of genuine wood, thus saving and preserving trees. In addition, it can be successfully manufactured of low-grade plastic such as recycled plastic, thus reducing waste in landfills as well as saving trees.